Family background
Born John Charles (nicknamed ‘Charley’ or ‘Charlie’) Belpit on 25 August 1858 at Ryde, New South Wales, he was the son of John C Bulpitt and Catherine née Murphy. He later adopted the spelling, Belpitt, and was generally known by his middle name, Charles.
His father was a bricklayer’s labourer who had been convicted of ‘machine breaking’ on 18 December 1830 at Winchester, England. Bulpitt was convicted alongside his brother, Charles, as part of the ‘Swing Riots’ – a broader protest movement which swept through rural southern, central and eastern England in 1830. Agricultural workers protested the agricultural mechanisation and harsh working conditions, and their tactics included the destruction of threshing machines. He was sentenced to death, which was commuted to transportation for life. He arrived in Sydney aboard the convict hulk, Eleanor, along with 135 other convicts in June 1831.
Bulpitt was granted a pardon in 1838 and in 1857 he married Catherine Murphy at Ryde. The couple had five children together and incorporated the altered spelling, Belpit, for their children’s surnames: they were John Charles (1858), William Henry (1860), Esther (1862), Thomas I (or Herbert) (1864) and James Joseph Jeremiah (1865). Bulpitt died at Ryde on 6 June 1866.
On 4 February 1867, John Charles, William and Thomas, were admitted to the Protestant Orphan School, Parramatta. Their admission records indicate their mother could not be found. They left the institution on 11 May 1869, having been discharged into the care of their mother on recommendation from the Bench of Magistrates, Ryde.
Belpitt married Mary Ann Costello on 22 July 1886 at St Paul’s Anglican Church on Cleveland Street, Redfern. They had five children together: Katherine, Annie, Charles, Edie and Eileen. The family lived on Pitt Street, Waterloo, Calder Road, Darlington and Hugo Street, Redfern. Mary Belpitt died in 1906, just four years after the birth of their youngest child. Belpitt died at Little Bay Hospital on 20 September 1923 and was buried at Rookwood General Cemetery. The Miscellaneous Workers’ Union initiated a fund to construct a ‘suitable memorial over his grave’.
Occupation & interests
John Belpitt was a bootmaker by trade.
Community activity
John Belpitt was a founding member of the Redfern Political Labor League and Miscellaneous Workers’ Union, and also first president of the latter organisation. He was president of the Darlington branch of the South Sydney Federal Labor League and the Watchmen, Cleaners and Caretakers’ Union.
In a letter to the editor dated 24 October 1910 he protested some of the working conditions in which ‘sweated, underpaid, and unfortunate women have to toil late and early for a miserable pittance to keep body and soul together. I know a case of a woman who has to clean 40 offices for the outrageous sum of 9s per week.’
Belpitt was a member of the Loyal Sydney Lodge, No. 7 of the Manchester Unity Independent Order of Oddfellows and in 1913 he was appointed a Justice of the Peace.
On his death in 1923, the Labor News wrote:
One of the best-known and most picturesque personalities among the pioneers of the Labor Movement in N.S.W. passed away a few weeks back in the person of Mr J.C. (Charley) Belpitt. As a foundation member of the original Redfern Political Labor League, he had much to do with the first big victory in that constituency at the elections in 1894, resulting in the return of J. S. T. McGowen, W. F. Schey, W. F. Sharp and H. C. Hoyle.
Mr. Belpitt was an outstanding figure, at every election in the Redfern-Waterloo- and Newtown-Darlington, St. Peters districts, and there were few political meeting he did not attend….Whenever and wherever there was any of the difficult drudgery called for which characterised the early days of the Labor Movement…Charley Belpitt could always be counted upon to carry the heaviest end of the burden. His unceasing efforts in opposition to the Commonwealth Constitution Bill led him to toil night after night, often for days on end….
It was mainly through his instrumentality that the Miscellaneous Workers’ Union was formed, and he thus was in the unique position of being a member four days before the first meeting. He was its first President, and was an official and active member of the Board of Management up to the day of his death.
Honours & awards
In 1910, John Charles Belpitt was honoured by members of the Watchmen, Cleaners and Caretakers’ Union and presented with a medal and purse of sovereigns in ‘recognition of his work in the early days of the union’. The Evening News reported: ‘During the proceedings a gold medal was presented to Mr. Belpitt, one of the victimised members, who in the early days of the union suffered the loss of his job because he defied his employers and stuck to the organisation.’
Local government service
John Charles Belpitt was elected as an alderman for the Golden Grove Ward, Redfern Council in 1914, serving until 1916. On his death in 1923, the Labor News noted: ‘…his advocacy and support of progressive measures had much to do with that Council being today regarded as one of the most advanced in the State.’
References
‘BULPITT John, Convicts Index 1791-1873, Ship: Eleanor, Citation: [4/4491; Reel 801 Page 004, Record Type: Absolute Pardon, https://search.records.nsw.gov.au/permalink/f/1ebnd1l/INDEX312117
BULPITT John, Convicts Index 1791-1873, Ship: Eleanor, Year: 1831, Citation: [4/4492; Reel 774 Page 027a], Record Type: Conditional Pardon, https://search.records.nsw.gov.au/permalink/f/1ebnd1l/INDEX312115
‘Pardons’, The Colonist, 19 May 1838, p. 3, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article31720995
State Archives and Records NSW, Protestant Orphan School Admission Books, Vol 4/10786-7, 1850-1886; Series: NRS 1348
‘Sweated Office-Cleaners And Others’, Sydney Morning Herald, 27 October 1910, p. 13, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article15183716
‘A Pioneer Passes Out’, Labor News, 17 November 1923, 4, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article106101959
‘Family Notices’, Australian Town and Country Journal, 31 July 1886, p. 35, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/71065816
‘Honorary Magistrates’, Sydney Morning Herald, 17 July 1913, p. 5, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/15436310
‘Municipal Elections’, Sydney Morning Herald, 23 January 1914, p. 12, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/15480070
‘Family Notices’, Sydney Morning Herald, 21 September 1923, p. 10, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/16094877
‘Family Notices’, Sydney Morning Herald, 22 September 1923, p. 13, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/16095180